Bermuda Pirates: How to Play
ARGH Matey!
Several adventurous pirates have set their sights on buried treasures concealed on a secret island in the dreaded Bermuda Triangle. Can you outwit the other pirates by navigating your boat through hidden whirlpools to bring back the treasures!? Today we’ll be sailing the high seas n’ learning Bermuda Pirates.
To set up the game, first put out the under boards on top of the centerpiece and then put the board game over it. These under boards will allow plenty of replayability because you can rearrange them for every game! They can be rotated and flipped! Inside them are magnets hiding whirlpools and players will need to use their memories to carefully navigate the high seas!
Then attach a flag to each protruding piece in the center. Then it’s time to place 6 treasures of each color on the center island matching the flag colors! Each player receives a boat and buoys based on the difficulty of the game. The youngest player starts and the game proceeds clockwise!
The object of the game is to be the first player to bring back one treasure of each color back to their base!
As players sail the bermuda Triangle they’ll perform the following actions:
Push their boat
Load their boat (If they avoided whirlpools and traps)
Push back their boat to their Island to secure their treasures
Place, move or remove one of their buoys
When pushing their boat, the player must use only one finger and push their boat from the back only! Boats may not cross obstacles such as other islands or shipwrecks but they can safely pass over any marine creatures. Always starting from their base, the player pushes their boat until one of 3 events occur!
Their boat gets caught by a hidden whirlpool.
Their boat runs aground on an obstacle by sailing over it or their boat falls off the board.
Their boat returns safely to the players home base with 1 or more treasures
When one of these events occurs, the player puts their boat at their starting base and their turn ends!
When loading their boat with treasures, players can take only one of the treasures on that section of the island. If the player touches a treasure lost at sea, they may also place it onto their boat. However, the player may never pick up a treasure that is the same color as one they already have possession of either on their boat or at their base. If a treasure falls off the boat while being pushed, it’s lost at sea and they can always attempt to retrieve it but they better be careful, other players might get their first and these treasures can be collected by anyone who can reach them on their turn! Don’t forget to be careful when evading the hidden whirlpools!
These will cause your treasures to fly off! If they do, the ones floating in the water are lost as sea and are up for grabs by any player who wants to collect them. Treasures that fly off the game board or land on the center island are returned to the center island. No treasures can remain on the boat and they also must be returned to the center island. With that said, if a treasure lands on any players base, they get to keep it as if they had collected it! Then the player may continue on their voyage by putting their boat back in its starting position.
When claiming their treasures players must safely get their boat back to their home by navigating the high seas home to their starting location on their turn! This is where Buoys come into play! Once a player has finished moving their boat they may place, move or remove a buoy.
(placing a buoy slide) These will help the players navigate the waters by indicating where whirlpools or other obstacles are. Players can place their buoy on any water location on the board with one exception. It can not be placed in a way that blocks another player’s access to a dock or blocks their way from leaving their base.
The game end is triggered when a player collects all 4 treasures. Then players all finish their turn. If more than one player has a full set of treasure than everyone who completed their set wins the game!
Bermuda Pirates is easy to play and requires a blend of dexterity and memory to be enjoyed to its fullest! It will be available at Gen Con as well as in friendly local game stores everywhere so pick it up if you see it and tell us in the comments below what your animal companion would be if you were a pirate. Be Bold, Find Treasure, Be You! Happy Gaming!